


No. 18 Paranoia (Merlin)

by Onehelluvapilot



Series: Whumptober 2020 [19]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27089989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onehelluvapilot/pseuds/Onehelluvapilot
Summary: Relates to the arc from No. 4, 5, and 13
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Whumptober 2020 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952440
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	No. 18 Paranoia (Merlin)

Arthur woke to the sound of the door to the motel room unlocking. He reached for the knife under his pillow before opening his eyes, but was relieved to see that it was just Merlin. The secretary was messing with the window, trying to get it to open.

"You could just turn on the AC if it's too warm in here, you know," he said. The other man jumped about three feet in the air and bashed his head into the insect screen in the window.

"Arthur, you prat, don't scare me like that," he hissed when he'd regained his breath, though it was still coming in short gasps. A hot breeze blew in through the now open window. Whatever the reason the door was hanging open, it wasn't to cool down the room. Looking over his friend, he saw that he… was he shaking? He certainly looked scared.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't wake me up in the middle of the night," he retorted. "Has something happened?"

"N-no, it's fine, I'm okay," Merlin stammered.

"You do realize that's not reassuring, right?" Arthur said, sitting up in bed. "What's wrong? I promise I won't tease you for it." Though their usual relationship was built on banter, he was willing to put it aside for the moment, since Merlin was clearly freaked out by something. Though the secretary tended to be an idiot, he had surprisingly good instincts when it came to danger.

"I just… I wanted to make sure we wouldn't suffocate."

"Ah." It had been a few weeks since they'd been locked into the bunker, and though the headaches and other physical effects of the oxygen deprivation had faded, the psychological pain seemed to be slower to dissipate. "Do you want to go for a walk? That always helps me when I get freaked out about being locked in somewhere."

"Oh. Yeah, sure."

Arthur helped Merlin close the windows back up before closing the motel door once they were outside of it. When they came back, they propped it open with a shoe to ensure it wouldn't lock them in


End file.
